Till I Fall
by sasswidow
Summary: When Meg Masters catches pneumonia, the doctor says she doesn't have a chance of recovery. That is, unless she finds a cause for living. Megstiel.


**A/N: Warnings: Character death and language. **

**loosely based on O. Henry's short story The Last Leaf**

**I own nothing**

* * *

He passed through the world undetected, like a phantom traveler. Only when you felt him inside you chilling at your bones did you know he was there. The headstrong girl from Michigan was easy prey for the silent killer.

It was late evening when Meg Masters walked home from the town's bar. The air was cold and the jacket she wore did little to shield herself from the harsh climate. Breathing out, she watched the cloud of her own breath in front of her. With an increased speed she walked back to her shared apartment two blocks further. He followed her home, the silent killer, his frail figure hiding in her shadows. Meg was unaware of his presence as his bony fingers touched her shoulders and came closer to entering her body. Shaking off the shiver that rippled down her spine, she walked up the stairs to her apartment with an unwelcome guest. Mr. Pneumonia, as they called him, was prepared to make Meg Masters' body his host.

"Is she going to be alright?" Meg's roommate, Ruby, asked the doctor with a frantic expression plastered on her face. She stood outside of her friend's hospital room, tapping her foot on the ground as she waited for the doctor's answer.

The doctor sighed, "It depends. She has a one-in..ten chance, let's say, of getting better." Ruby narrowed her eyes. "She has to want to live." The doctor watched Ruby's face fall. "Did she have any dreams or goals? Was there.. someone?"

Ruby shook her head, glancing into the room where her friend lay still. The only indication that life still flowed through her was the occasional bark-like cough's she would give before falling silent once more. Walking away from the doctor, Ruby entered Meg's room and stood at her bedside. "You look like Hell." She commented trying to smile. This was no solace to the ill girl for she groaned loudly, sitting up and turning her dark eyes to the window where she watched the leaves fall off a bush.

"I feel like Hell," Meg mumbled watching the wind rattle the leaves to the ground. Few still clung to the frail branches. "After the last leaf falls I'm out." She spoke about death with such confidence. Ruby didn't say anything on the matter, she turned and left the room without a goodbye. Meg tore her eyes from the window to watch her friend go, walking down the hall towards the exit. When Meg turned back to the window she counted five leaves left on the bush. "_Four_.." She breathed before closing her eyes and drifting off into the world of unconsciousness.

In the city where Ruby and Meg called home, if you wanted to meet someone, you went to the bar. While Meg lay waiting for the final leaf to fall, her roommate went to the bar where she met with an old friend. "Castiel." She greeted with a snide smile when she saw his familiar raggedy trench coat and blue tie. "I haven't seen you in five years and you're still wearing the same ridiculous coat."

The man named Castiel brushed off her comment and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why did you ask me to meet you here?" He watched Ruby's expression change from sarcastic to dismayed. "Meg?" Ruby nodded and took a large swig of the drink she had ordered.

"Doc says she's not going to get better. Un-"

"Then why did you contact me?"

Ruby sighed and set down her drink with a loud thud, "Because, jackass, you can make her better." Castiel cocked his head to the side and let Ruby continue. "Doc says she doesn't have a reason to live, well I think I found one. Oh, don't.." She kicked his legs under the table, "She's a friend. And I know you still, you know, care about her."

"And you know this how?"

"Because you don't give two shits about me. You wouldn't have come if you knew Meg wasn't going to be involved." She then tossed a few dollars on the table and left the bar with Castiel still sitting there, a disheveled look upon his face.

Meg was resting when she heard footsteps enter her room. Thinking it was her doctor, she ignored the noise and tried to drift off again. She felt the stranger take her hand in his, rubbing small circles on her frail, white knuckles. The touch jostled her awake and she tried to sit up, blinking sleep from her dark eyes. Words got caught in her throat as she looked into the familiar pair of blue eyes. The only thing she could manage was a fit of coughs and an unattractive moan at the sudden dryness she felt in her throat. He greeted her by brushing the dull strands of brunette hair out of her face. He thought he caught a glimpse of a blush on her sickly cheeks. Taking her eyes off of him, Meg looked out the window where she saw the single green leaf hanging to the branch. She watched a gust of wind jostle it around, but it didn't fall. "Thanks." She mumbled, "For being here with me when I.."

Castiel released his hand from hers. Cupping her face, he pulled it towards him and brought her close, pressing his lips to hers. With her quickly fleeting strength Meg managed to sit up and bring her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. She moved herself to give Castiel room to climb onto the hospital bed that was not made to support more than one person. She broke away with a smile on her face. "Exactly how I remember." Was all she got out before erupting into a fit of coughs and wheezes, collapsing back onto the bed with Castiel awkwardly positioned next to her. He moved off the bed and stood at her side, bending down to kiss her neck. "What," Cough, "was that for?" She wasn't challenging, but confused.

"Someone once told me: '_You find a cause and you serve it_.'" With that he looked out the window to see a bare bush, the last leaf having fallen in the midst of their embrace. "The leaf is gone and you're still here. Five years gone by and I'm still your cause for living." He gave a sort of laugh, thinking back to the last time he had been there for her. Pressing his lips to her forehead, Castiel gave her hand a final squeeze before leaving the room. "I'll see you tomorrow." He called before disappearing down the hall.

She didn't see him the following day, or the day after. A week had gone by and she had made an extraordinary recovery. Her Doctor was outside the room speaking to Ruby in a voice loud enough for Meg to hear. "I don't know how you did it, but I think she's going to be okay."

Ruby smiled, "An old friend paid a visit; Castiel was his name." She added and Meg felt her cheeks growing hot.

"Castiel Novak?" The doctor asked and Ruby nodded, smiling still. "The fellow who came in with pneumonia a week ago?" Ruby's face fell and from inside the room Meg gave a sound of shrill terror. "We sent his body off last night. He, uh- I'm not sure how he got it, but it was a very serious case. He, err, died at 11:28 last night."

Inside the room Meg felt her face grow hot with hatred and self-loathing. She felt the tears rolling off her face like a waterfall. It had been her fault he'd contracted the disease. He came as a cause for her to live and in the end she was the cause for him to die. Gross sobs escaped her. Ruby came in and took her hand, trying to comfort her. Meg told her to fuck off. She stayed, however, at a distance, monitoring her friend's behavior. In all the years she'd known Meg Masters, not once had she seen her cry like this. The only other time she'd even seen the girl cry was when Castiel carried her home after finding her behind the bar in a drunken heap covered in her own blood. That had been five years ago. Meg kept cursing to herself, "I'm such a fucking sap!" She screamed, pulling at the ends of her hair. "This is why you don't get close to people, because they die." Ruby watched without doing anything as her friend went to pieces. Meg worked herself up, collapsing in a disheveled heap on her hospital bed. That would be the last she'd sleep there.

In the end it wasn't pneumonia that killed Meg Masters. It was guilt and her mind falling apart that took the life of the girl from Michigan. She'd been transferred to the psychiatric ward for two months before eventually finding a way to take her own life. Ruby had requested her grave be next to his. There wasn't a big ceremony, seeing as Meg's family had deserted her and her friend's list was shorter than her first name. But Ruby came with two brothers Meg had met long ago. As she looked down at her grave, then over to Castiel's, she couldn't help but smile. And if Meg and Castiel had seen them, they would have smiled too. For on them they read:

_I didn't have a cause_

_until I met you. _


End file.
